Flying Truisms

"Yea though I fly through the Valley of Death I shall fear no evil,
for I am at 80,000 feet and climbing."
- At the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base Kadena, Japan
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"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.."
- Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
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"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
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Blue water Navy truism: "There are more planes in the ocean than
submarines in the sky."
- From an old carrier sailor
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"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a
helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
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"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you still have enough
power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
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"Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying
club."
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"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, ..... the pilot
dies."
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"Never trade luck for skill."
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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation
a
"Why is it doing that?"
"Where are we?" and

"O H S H I T!"
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"Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."
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"Progress in airline flying: now a flight attendant can get a pilot
pregnant."
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"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully
complete the flight."
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"A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all luck; three in a
row is prevarication."
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"I remember when sex was safe and flying was dangerous."
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"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we've never left one up
there!"
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"Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag used
for storing dead batteries."

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"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a
person on the ground who is incapable of understanding it or doing anything
about it."
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"When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was
forgotten."
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"Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be
held on a sunny day."
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Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII:

"When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the
softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible."
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"The Piper Cub is probably the safest airplane in the world; it can
just barely kill you."
- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
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"A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to
its maximum."
- Jon McBride, astronaut
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"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the
crash as possible."
- Bob Hoover (renowned aerobatic and test pilot)
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"Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."
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"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
- Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970

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"If something isn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
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Basic Flying Rule:

"Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of
it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground,
buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to
fly there."
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"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full
power to taxi to the terminal."
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As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn
off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives.

The rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks "What happened?"

The pilot replies, "I don't know, I just got here myself!"

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